Making a fan club out of a cadre based national political party

Several popular stars in the South including NTR, MgR have successfully turned fan clubs into political parties. At a smaller scale this is perhaps possible, but turning a political party into a fan club, is it possible? Further, could a cadre based national party be turned into a fan club?! The BJP just achieved the impossible. Consider what the latest offerings of the BJP are- MODI fied, MODI chai, MODItva etc etc.

On each TV discussion, BJP panelists repeat ad nauseum lies about Mr. Modi’ greatness and that the UPA-II, headed by the Indian National Congress has been a corrupt regime. There is no mention whatsoever about Shivraj Singh Chauhan, Vasundhara Raje, Raman Singh, Manohar parrikar or even about the tallest leaders LK Advani, M M Joshi, Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, Rajnath Singh or Nitin Gadkari.

On the issue of corruption, unthinkingly, TV anchors too lend themselves to this thought process thereby leading to the bleakest of negative narratives of a government in recent times.

The head of the government is Dr. Manmohan Singh, whose personal integrity and reputation is unimpeachable. The public have now encountered the ill effects of over communication with Arvind Kejriwal’s 49 day fiasco. governance is lonely, back breaking and often receives little gratitude. The Indian National Congress recognizes this and has made no attempt whatsoever to join the dash of leaders who promise the moon, but fail to deliver subsequently.

The government of the day is termed by the BJP to be “scam ridden”. A scam cannot be a minor violation of certain laws, nor can it be an indictment for a small sum. A scam ought to be considered one only if a respectable figure were attached to the crime. It is for this reason, that, Adarsh does not fit the description of a scam. The sum total of allegations against the then chief minister was that he had handed over an Apartment to his mother in law, a case of nepotism at worst. The chief minister stood sacked – he belonged to a State where it is reputed that a thousand crore could be collected by the chief executive over a couple of telephone calls.

As far as 2g is concerned, the fact that there is no allegation against a single Congressman misses everybody’s attention. Further, the fact that, the said losses were presumptions of the CAG and not at all bribes is something that an average person does not know. The government of the day acted with alacrity and had the main actors in the crime behind bars. The public forgets this and gets taken in by the nonsense spewed by Dr. Swamy, who made multiple visits to the Supreme Court to have any one Member of the INC in government indicted.

As far as Coalgate is concerned, the main beneficiaries are all members of the BJP, who had been recommended by the then existing NDA regimes of Jharkhand, Madhya pradesh and Chattisgarh. In any event, no quid pro quo has been proved. Again, the losses have been presumed by the CAG.

An average literate voter seems swayed by answers provided by leaders who only raise accusing fingers. There is no answer to a query from the other side which asks for more particulars.

Contrast this with the BJP’s own record of corruption. Besides, Mr. Yeddyurappa, 17 minister s of the Karnataka government have had to demit office for corruption. Mr. Modi continues to have 2 minister s, who have been indicted on charges of corruption – Babulal Bhukaria and Purushotham Solanki. Mr. Modi presides over a regime which has declared prohibition, but where all liquor is available upon payment of “Modi Tax”. This “Modi Tax” alone brings Mr. Modi Rs.10,000/- crore annually which he has employed to buy out an entire political party, the BJP. The originators of the BJP and those that, ploughed lonely furrow to bring the BJP to its current strength have all but been forgotten with this new found wealth. Therefore, the vestiges of a glorious past like Vajpayee, Advani, Murali Manohar Joshi have been dumped into the waste bin of history. Mr. Modi does not even deign fit to have a statue of the party’s founder Shamaprasad Mookerjee or Deenadayal Upadayaya. Instead, he builds the statue of the former president of the Indian National Congress Sardar Vallabai patel.

The BJP is today a fan club that lost two of its national president’s to allegations of corruption – Bangaru Lakshman and Nitin Gadkari. It is this fan club that promises to offer an alternative to the so-called “scam ridden Congress”.

DISCLAIMER : Views expressed above are the author's own.

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Author

Brijesh Kalappa, an advocate in the Supreme Court, Legal Advisor to the Government of Karnataka (with the rank of Minister of State) and Former Additional Advocate General, Haryana. He has a sustained interest in public affairs even from his student years. He is a former journalist and has a wide range of interests including reading and travelling. On the professional front, he has worked with several legal luminaries on subjects of importance in civil, criminal, water and electoral laws and has individually represented governments, eminent individuals and major industrial houses. He is gifted with the prowess for distinctive sharp-edged analysis and has the advantage of surmounting well accepted beliefs by his inquiring nature. He is the spokesperson of the Indian National Congress.

Brijesh Kalappa, an advocate in the Supreme Court, Legal Advisor to the Government of Karnataka (with the rank of Minister of State) and Former Additional A. . .